Marketing
Let’s face it: Many managed service providers don’t know how to market and promote their businesses. But don’t worry. We can show you how to raise the visibility of your business using Web 2.0 technologies, e-newsletters, online video, and other low-cost efforts. Get Started: Register to enter our Resource Center, where you’ll be able to download numerous guides to building and running your managed services business. And check back often. We post new guides in the MSPmentor Resource Center every week.
MSPs might be able to learn a thing or two from B2C marketing techniques and a recent report from 
I received an email from a loyal reader this morning. Her message: It’s time to start filtering and censoring the LinkedIn groups for 
I’m now convinced that all IT service providers — MSPs, VARs, resellers — need quoting and sales proposals software. Ironically, I reached that conclusion while researching a potential home improvement project. Here’s the back story, and how it shaped my views back in the managed services providers.
If a customer doesn’t see the business value in what you do, your services are expendable. It’s a harsh reality, but one that we all face. As an MSP, the challenge lies in communicating your customer value day-in and day-out. For most, promoting value at the front end of the sale to earn the customer’s business comes easy. But once the ink dries, many MSPs turn the focus to meeting the SLA (service level agreement) and recognizing the recurring revenue. The selling stops. The relationship is managed, but is the business still being earned and relationship nurtured?
This will be a very active year on the 
Forget the NFL playoffs. Let’s talk baseball. When the Boston Red Sox begin the 2012 baseball season, outspoken manager Bobby Valentine (a.k.a. “Bobby V”) will be at the helm. Back in October, I wrote an article about how the Red Sox’s historic 2011 season-end collapse, fueled in part by certain players indulging in 
As the New Year approaches, we’re looking back at the most read managed services stories of 2011. Yesterday, we recapped the 
The 
Chances are, you use e-mail to market your services. And there’s a good chance you could be doing a better job of it. David Daniels, chief executive officer of The Relevancy Group, an e-mail marketing research and advisory firm, said many companies employ the “spray and pray” method of e-mail marketing: blast the same e-mail missive to everyone on the list and hope someone opens it. Most e-mail marketers don’t make the effort to segment their customers. And that oversight may result in leaving quite a bit of money on the table.
Automated loyalty programs have become a standard offering for large customer-facing businesses. For example, online retailer Amazon offers a variety of programs such as Amazon Prime, which offers expedited free shipping and other perks for paying members, and most major supermarket and drugstore chains have some kind of card-based program where shoppers receive targeted discounts and earn credits toward future purchases.
ClikCloud
It’s official: Everyone agrees that the last 10 years have been an economic nightmare. People everywhere are tightening their belts and stocking up expecting the worst over the next few years. And the worst may come, if the folks in Washington don’t get their act together. But all this is big picture. Let’s shift the focus to our own businesses. How much can we do to hedge against the future when we are still struggling to make it through today, right? The truth is, there is a lot of opportunity in a down economy. Here’s why.
